Roommates & Thieves: A Second Chance Romantic Comedy (Breaking The Rules Book 3)

by Jenna Reed

  “I’m so happy. When Lindsie leaves, you can have your room,” she says.

  “I’m kind of hoping a certain girl will want me to live with her. I have a grand gesture planned that I think will knock her socks off,” I announce.

  “Really?” Lindsie asks, “I want to hear about this.”

  “Whatever you’re doing, cancel it. I think you should do a flash mob,” Brian says. “I will go find some examples on YouTube.” With that, Brian dashes from the table.

  “No,” Lindsie shakes her head, “don’t do that.”

  “I wasn’t going to,” I tell her. “Okay, so I know her favorite movie, so I called the movie theater for a private screening, and they won’t do it.”

  “So, what are you gonna do now?” Mom asks.

  “Well, I just have to make some more phone calls,” I tell her. “Starting with Lily about the older buildings they own on the west side of town.”

  “More like a ghost town,” my dad says before laughing and holding up a hand to high-five my mom.

  She rolls her eyes and doesn’t give him a high five. “Good luck, Son,” Mom says.

  “Thank you, it’s time for this guy to call-in pretty much every favor this little town owes me and hope it works.”

  “Okay,” Brian says, running back into the room. “This one is actually the one from The Office wedding, and it’s not really a flash mob, but it’s funny.”

  We all watch as Brian not only puts the video up on the television in the living room but does a lot of the dances. I elbow Lindsie as I try not to die laughing.

  “You’re not that bad looking, cuz,” I tell her, “you don’t have to settle.”

  “What can I say,” she grins from ear to ear, “I love his idiot ass.”

  After a good laugh, I leave but not before thanking Mom for dinner. Driving to Grady’s, I have the whole plan solidified in my mind. I want to talk to Nina, but I need the perfect setting, so I’ll have Grady help me with everything.

  “What’s going on?” Grady questions when he answers the door. “Usually, you call.”

  “Yeah, I’m sorry it’s late, I know I should’ve called, but I’m doing something for Nina, and I could really use your help.” He nods, and I push past him into the house. We are barely sitting down before I explain to him what is going to happen.

  “I hope this works for you because if she starts crying, I’m going to have to punch you in the face. It’s my brotherly duty.”

  I chuckle but nod, understanding him completely. I wouldn’t expect any less from him. Now the plan is set. He’ll get Nina to where she needs to be, and I’ll do the rest. When I get into bed later and scroll through my phone, I see a text message from Nina.

  NINA: I think this will be your last month living here. It’s not a good idea. I saw you this morning at my favorite coffee shop.

  Great, she’s letting me know she saw me with Sydney. I need to get the show on the road. I punch in Lily Lawrence’s number and wait for her to answer.

  “Hi, Lily, it’s Travis. Dad said you needed some help.”

  “Oh, yes, we do. I got a guy out, and the project is pretty much on standstill until we find a new contractor, but I don’t trust just anybody with this,” she says.

  “I’m happy to work while I’m here. But… I need a favor from you.”

  “Name it.”

  “Do you still own the abandoned movie theater?”

  “We do,” she says, “we don’t call it abandoned,” she continues, “it’s taking a break from normal service.”

  “So, the screen works?” I was starting to gain a lot more hope, I could still pull my plan off.

  “Yes, I can even turn on the popcorn machine. What are you thinking about some kind of party for you and your friends?”

  “No, there’s this girl, and I need to do something big to repair the damage I’ve done. I have a plan.”

  “Oh, how romantic, can I do anything else? I’ll get someone to run the projector. I can bring some of my staff from the other location to take your tickets and give you popcorn? It will be your own private showing.” She says, her voice rising in excitement.

  “Thanks, Lily,” I tell her. “I’m looking forward to working with you again.”

  Nerves and doubt plague me as I picture how it’s going to go. She shows up and doesn’t want to go into the theater with me. She shows up and goes inside, but she hates it. There were so many ways it could go wrong. I need to focus on making it perfect and let fate handle the rest.

  25

  Nina

  Despite being very apprehensive about the entire evening, I allow Grady to pick me up. I don’t want to look like I’m trying hard to impress Travis. I settle on a blue sweater and a pair of jeans with tall gray boots. Nothing special. I braid my hair in the way I’d done it for the Renaissance fair. I’ve really started to like the way it looks.

  “You didn’t wear a dress,” my brother says as I get into his truck.

  “Why would I wear a dress? I’ve been told by a jackass to meet at some undisclosed location, to do who knows what,” I tell him, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

  “Fair enough, I just thought you lovvvvvedddd him.”

  “Shut up, Grady. I’m only going to tell him to jump off a cliff,” I say. I’m hopeful when I see him, I’ll be able to say that to him. I can’t get sucked in. He lied and told me Sydney left, probably to get into my pants. I can’t be swayed by whatever romantic gesture he’s decided to pull.

  “Wow, you are in a mood,” Grady says. “You know what Glenn would say. When you’re a sour puss, everyone has to pucker their lips.”

  “You know, that’s a weird one,” I tell him.

  “Yeah, Glenn is weird. I’ve perfected my impression though.”

  “Nobody likes a party pooper,” I say in my best Glenn voice. I’ve been practicing our stepfather’s cantor too.

  As we drive, I try to figure out where he’s taking me. We turn left instead of right as we hit town and start going down some dark backstreets.

  “You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?” I ask Grady. “There is nothing down here.”

  “Wow,” he says, “you figured it out. I’ve just been playing your brother for all these years, so I could finally kill you.”

  “Great, I’m going to have to tuck and roll,” I say, pretending to open the door.

  “Stop being dramatic. I’d run you over before you got a foot.”

  Grady turns down Light Street and pulls up in front of a building I recognize. The movie theater we all went to as kids. All the lights are on, and the sign that usually has the movies on it says, now showing Top Gun. Welcome, Nina.

  My breath catches in my throat, and I look at Grady with wide eyes.

  “What is going on?”

  My brother shrugs and tells me I might as well go in. “Your name is on the sign, after all.”

  “I’m still telling him he’s an ass, and that he and sex on legs can finally be together because I am done,” I tell Grady as I get out of the truck, but my determination wanes a bit.

  “Sure, you are, little sister,” Grady grins smugly, “okay, I’m leaving now.”

  He doesn’t wait for me to respond before his truck peels out of the parking lot. I walk apprehensively to the front of the theater and pull the door open. The smell of fresh popcorn greets me. I don’t see Travis yet, but I do see a woman dressed like she works here with the red bowtie and everything, standing at the counter with a box of popcorn and a ticket. She greets me with a warm smile.

  “Hi, Nina, welcome to Lawrence movie theater. Would you like extra butter or cheese on your popcorn?”

  “Cheese,” I tell her, feeling a little bit like I’ve stepped into a surreal world.

  “What would you like to drink?” the woman asks as she adds an insane amount of white cheddar powder to my popcorn. My mouth waters.

  “Diet coke, please.”

  She turns and gets my drink from the fountain before handing it
to me with the ticket. It’s a handmade ticket that reads, Nina and Travis, it’s never too late. The name of the movie is written on the bottom with little hearts. It’s so sweet and kind, and my heart speeds up a little. I’ve been planning to tell him off, not get swept away by his romantic gesture.

  “Man, he’s pulling out all the stops,” I whisper to the stranger.

  She hands me a box of Snow Caps, “He said these used to be your favorite.” She smiles again

  I smile and take the treat from her. “Head that way,” she tells me, pointing toward a little hallway that leads to one of the screens. There is another lady outside the room, holding her hand out for my ticket. I hand it to her, and she gives me a blanket in return.

  “It can get a little chilly in there,” she tells me. “He didn’t want you to get cold.”

  Nodding, I walk into the room. At first, I don’t see anyone, and then I hear his voice.

  “I wanted to come to you yesterday and tell you how I felt, but our history being what it is, I figured I would go through a little more trouble,” he says.

  “I saw you with her.” My voice barely comes out. I have to let him know I’m not happy. I will not just be a pushover because he opened an abandoned movie theater, gave me Snow Caps, and a blanket.

  “Yes, I didn’t know Sydney was still in town.” He walks directly in front of the screen, “But in true Sydney fashion, she needed to be rescued from herself, and a couple trying to take her home. Nothing happened between us.”

  “Likely story,” I tell him, rolling my eyes.

  “Really,” he says, walking up the aisle toward me. He’s wearing a gray sweater with dark blue denim jeans, and he looks delicious, like a snack. I can’t back down. I must be strong against his lies. “It’s funny, Sydney helped me realize something about myself. She said I never gave myself to her and she was right. I didn’t.”

  “Why are you telling me this?” I ask, moving back a bit as he gets closer to me. My resolve is breaking, and I want him to take me into his arms, but I still want to guard my heart and push him away at the same time.

  “Because the reason I didn’t give myself to her or anyone is that I was in love with someone else. Even though I thought she used me and didn’t care anymore once we slept together. I still loved her.”

  He smiles at me, and I realize I don’t know what he’s talking about, “Used you?” This is not the first time he’s said that phrase, and I want to know where it’s coming from.

  Travis’s smile slips a little. “I heard you tell Tati you didn’t care who you lost your virginity to, that you didn’t care for me,” he says. “Grady told me that Tati manipulated you somehow, but back then, I thought you were ready to move on, and I left.”

  Like a brick house tumbling down on me, the newly revealed information has me reaching for a nearby seat, and I shove down into the chair hard. That dumb conversation with Tati was the reason he left. The reason my heart broke into a million pieces, and I thought he used me. How could that be possible?

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper, unable to grasp the whole story.

  “I’m sorry too,” he says. “I let that night stay with me all this time, and after we slept together this time, it crept back in.”

  “You said you love the girl you thought used you,” I say with a small smile.

  “I do.” He pulls me up and into his arms. His mouth covers mine, and I breathe him in. His pine soap smell mixed with his normal musk is intoxicating. I want to smell this forever. He deepens the kiss, and I moan, leaning into him.

  “I love you too,” I tell him, and I mean it. I can finally admit to myself that I do love him. The lights in the theater go down and the screen comes on with the beginning of Top Gun. “I can’t believe you did this.”

  “I’d do anything for you,” he says and takes my hand. We sit down and watch the movie on the big screen. I’ve never seen it on the big screen, and I love it. When the movie is over, I get ready to stand up, but he grabs my hand. Leaning forward, he kisses me sweetly.

  Then he pulls something from his jacket and hands it to me. It’s a picture of Travis when he was younger, dressed up like Maverick from Top Gun.

  “What is this?” I ask, laughing.

  “That night, I’d spent a lot of time dressing like your favorite movie character. I knew you loved Top Gun. When Grady told you, I was working on a couple’s costume. That was it. I was hoping we’d become a couple that night.”

  “Wow,” I say, completely shocked. “I can’t believe that happened, we could have been together this whole time.”

  “We just have a lot of time to make up for,” he says, and brings his hand to my hair, pulling me closer to him. He nips at my lips, and I kiss him back until we are both worked up.

  He pulls me to my feet. “Let’s go home,” he says and lifts me up.

  “In a hurry?” I giggle.

  “Like I said, we have a lot of lost time to make up.”

  26

  Nina

  I’m full of anticipation and joy as we pull up to the apartment. I still can’t believe he went to so much trouble for me. The movie was perfect and the Maverick costume, it’s just all too much. I feel like I’m in a romantic movie.

  “You okay?” he asks, seeming to doubt the gesture easing my mind.

  “I can honestly say I’m fine for the first time in a while. Everything is perfect.” I give him a reassuring smile. Reaching toward him, I slide my fingers down the side of his jaw as I look into his eyes. I can see myself reflected in the depths. This is the man I love, the man I’ve always loved. It’s surreal, everything has led to this point.

  “Everything is perfect.” His voice is a gentle caress against my lips. I lick my top lip, and he meets my mouth for the hundredth time tonight.

  The heat between us is electric. I’ve missed this closeness with someone, but especially Travis. I groan at how good it feels. He deepens the kiss, his hands moving up my stomach to my breasts. My insides twist, and heat rushes between my legs.

  I run my hands down his back and whisper, “Let’s go in before we jump each other in the car.”

  “I’m okay with that,” he says but opens the door to get out. He takes my hand and leads me into the building, stopping in front of our door. “Before we go in, there’s one more surprise waiting for you inside.”

  “What else could you possibly have done?” I laugh as I open the door to find a couch and matching loveseat in the center of the living room. I squeal with delight. “We have a couch!”

  “We have a couch,” he says, laughing, “it’s not purple, but it’s something to sit on.”

  “It’s perfect,” I tell him. I sit down on it and look around the room. “It’s even better than the purple wonder because it’s from you.

  “Should we break it in?” he asks as he comes to stand in front of me. I pull him toward me by his belt loops and go for his waistband.

  “In a hurry, are we?” He lets out a breathy laugh, but desire shines brightly in his eyes.

  “I can stop if you want?” I tease while pulling his shirt up. He obliges and helps slip it off.

  “Never.” He pulls me to my feet before stepping back and looking me up and down. His hands grab the button on my jeans and skillfully undoes it. Pulling the Jeans down while I balance on his shoulders. The cool air is a welcome relief to the heat I’m beginning to feel.

  “That’s better.” His mouth touches my right thigh and moves up my leg while giving me light kisses that send delicious tingles over my skin. He nuzzles between my legs and almost causes me to collapse back onto the couch.

  As his face moves up my stomach, he moves his hands to the edges of my shirt to take it off. His mouth makes it back to mine, and I kiss him hungrily, pulling at his hair. I reach for his pants and pull them down with his boxers. As I struggle to get them off his ankles, he pulls my panties down. We both fall laughing to the couch and disentangle our own clothes before throwing them in a pile. Neither of us is gracef
ul, and I love it.

  “You want to break in the couch or go to bed?” he asks.

  “The bed,” I say. “After our last time trying in here, I don’t want to chance my hair getting caught somewhere.

  He runs in before me and lays spread out on the bed. The light is on, so I can see every bit of his naked body, he’s not shy, at all. I crawl slowly on top of him and allow my fingers to trace the curve of his chest and stomach toward his fully erect dick.

  I lean over and kiss him again as his fingers snake between my legs. One, then two fingers slip inside my folds, and my hips push down onto them on their own. I’m not surprised about the wetness, and he doesn’t seem to be either. The light, pleased moan that comes from deep within his chest makes me clench around the fingers as if they were giving me life. I’m more than ready to get this going. I nip at his lip and sit up in a straddle position.

  Goosebumps appear along my thighs as his hands settle on my waist, and his fingers lightly dig into my ass. I feel his hips push up into me, and the hard length of him settles against my mound. Without letting him enter me, I rub myself down and up and am pleased with the groan it elicits from him.

  “Don’t make me wait too long.” He smiles up at me and tugs a bit on my hips. The slickness between us is allowing me to slide faster, and I keep it up until the grinding is becoming too much for the both of us. I reach over and grab a condom, hurriedly slipping it down, grazing my own wetness as I move and causing a shiver to go through me.

  My hand slides down to glide him in, and I shudder with pleasure as he pushes through my entrance.

  The feeling of fullness almost makes me orgasm on the spot, and my flesh squeezes around him. He uses my thighs as leverage as he sits up and pulls me into a deep kiss.

  I love the feel of his hands running up and down my back as he meets my downward motions with his upward thrusts. My arms wrap around his neck as our tongues make love with the rhythm of our bodies. Our pace speeds up and becomes more frantic with the buildup of frustration and desire that has been simmering since we were together last.